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The Technical Paper and Its New Relation to Industry’ By H. C. Pe.rmelee2 NEWYORK,N. Y.
If we attempt to analyze the elements that have contributed to the evolution of modern civilization in all its variety and complexity, we are likely to come to the conclusion that the most powerful single force has been the rapid development in the means of communication between individuals, communities, cities, and nations. To such a degree of perfection have these means been developed, and so complete has been their conquest of conditions on our own earth, that intrepid pioneers are already attacking the problem of interworld communication. Great industries have been founded in the course of these developments. Ships sail the seven seas to the uttermost parts of the earth; railroads cover the continents like networks of steel; aircraft cruise their routes regularly with incredible speed; the telephone and telegraph are known in the humblest village ; radio communication is almost a commonplace; and finally the products of the printing press have long since lost the element of novelty and are accepted as an integral part of our daily life. These agencies have brought about the great transition from primitive society in which human intelligence was transmitted by word of mouth. They have a t once simplified and complicated modern life; simplified it by bringing the peoples of the earth into closer contact, and complicated it by extending our relationships and increasing our duties and obligations. They have unified nations in war for a great cause, and they have given an impetus to peaceful industrial growth unparalleled in the history of the world. But though all these agencies have contributed largely to the development of modern society, it is certain they have not been of equal value and ’importance. Ships, railroads, and aircraft may be developed ever so highly and yet be limited as means of communication if they transport only men from place to place. Important as are the telephone, telegraph, and radio in the quick transmission of intelligence to and from all parts of the world, they are still restricted to communication between fixed points and a small number of individuals. Obviously some other agency in combination with these has been rcsponsible for that wide distribution of human knowledge and intelligence that characterizes modern society and which has been responsible for its development. Some other means has been evolved t o reproduce for thousands and millions of individuals the product of the world’s great intellects and lay it regularly before all who want it. It is in the discovery and perfection of printing and paper that we find the essential element in all this marvelous development. Modern civilization, said Lord Avebury in addressing a n international gathering of paper manufacturers, depends upon the discovery of cheap paper and rapid printing for the wide distribution of information. This we may accept without demanding exhaustive proof, for it requires no stretch of the imagination t o visualize the influence of printing on the wide dissemination of knowledge. By this means industrial, political, and economic information has spread with amazing rapidity. By it the intelligence of one nation has become the property of the whole race, and the intellect of a great leader has been able t o influence the trend of thought of the entire world. In short, we may accept the press as the means of communication par excellence and proceed to examine one of its comparatively small but important branches, namely, the industrial press, that has just begun to sense and exercise its power. Industrial publishing has reached its highest development in Presented before the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society, November 18, 1921. 2 Editor of Chemical and Metallurgical Enpincerink.
the United States, where over 1200 peribdicals are now devoted to industry in all its phases. The growth of this great publishing business has been coincident with the industrial expansion of the country itself. The first industrial paper of which we have record in this country was founded in 1846. In the next decade two more were established, but no great impetus was given to the business until after the Civil War when the country went through its marvelous period of growth and development. Industries of all kinds invited leadership, and industrial magazines sprang up to point the way. The result was that from one paper in 1846, three in 1856, and 25 in 1869, the number grew to 800 by the end of the century and to well over 1200 a t the present time. Including Canada, it is estimated that there are in America hetween 1200 and 1400 industrial publications, the number varying with the method of classification. An important group of the industrial press comprises what are known as technical papers because they deal with the technology of industry, with the application of science and engineering principles to the problems of production and management. It is in this group that you, as chemists, are most interested; and since both you and I have a still narrower interest in technical magazines devoted t o the chemical industry we may confine further observations to papers of that class.
THETECHNICAL PAPEROF THE.EARLIER DAY My topic, “The Technical Paper and Its New Relation to Industry,” suggests a contrast with a n earlier relation, and so we may go back for a moment and sketch that former relation briefly so as to emphasize the new order that must be expanded and developed if the technical paper is to live up to it5 opportunity for service and leadership. Technical papers for the chemical and allied industries are of comparatively recent development in this country, but if we examine the early files of such papers we will find that they were devoted almost strictly to matters of technical interest. They recorded the results of scientific research and investigation and of progress in the arts. Processes and products were discussed in their scientific and technical aspects. The contributions were of a high order of merit, and the contributors were recognized scientists of learning and ability. On the whole the publication was maintained on a high plane of scholarship and was a credit to the profession. Its reliahility and integrity were above reproach and its subscribers bore testimony to its value and influence in all technical matters. I t was a tool of the profession rather than of the industry. The raison d’ltre for such a magazine is not far to seek. It was a product of its time and it served its purpose well. Technical industries were in a state of rapid evolution, and the latest developments in technology were of primary importance. It was essential that the scientific foundation of industry be carefully laid in order that the superstructure might endure, In short, industry being more interested in, and most in need of, technical leadership and guidance, the function of the technical paper was plainly t o serve along these lines.
THE NEW RESPONSIRILITIES OF THE TECHNICAL PRESS But excellent as this service was, and adequate though it proved for its time, i t will not suffice to-day. New elements have entered into our national industrial life and, by presenting new problems t o industry, have at the same time laid new and additional responsibilities on the technical paper. It is no longer enough for it to treat of technology; it must consider the business and economic problems of industry as well. The tech-
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nical paper can no longer fulfil its function if it merely discusses processes and products; it must also be the business exponent and mouthpiece of its industry, reflecting its needs and guarding its interests. I t must become an integral part of its industry, serving all its needs. It must he of the industry as well as for it Thc perception of this new responsibility was quickened during and immediately after the war, when we faced industrial and economic problems that far transcended in importance the problems of technology. The Government itself was confronted with industrial problems of the greatest magnitude, and as a result of the war was involved in the most intimate relations with business and industry. There was the greatest need for some puhlic agency to reflect the needs of industry to the Government and to interpret the intentions and acts of the Government to industry. In this condition industry found itself without a mouthpiece or exponent unless the technical press threw itself into the breach, which it promptly did. Washington became a great center for technical and industrial news, requiring the closest daily contact on the part of the business press; and as a consequence of the early recognition of this fact, industry was served with pertinent government news through its technical papers. The necessity for this arose mainly from the fact that the daily press in all its excellence was not equipped to meet the need. It was not and could not be intimately familiar with the details of industry, and consequently could not sense its needs. The whole country was face to face with a brand new crop of problems, and since industry had learned to follow its own technical papers in matters of science and technology it natuialty turned to the same source for leadership in theqe new conditions. The technical paper promptly sensed and accepted the situation. It became a magazine of opinion on labor problems, on the tariff, on wages, on the cost of living, foreign trade, government policies, the patent system, revenue legislation and finance, and many other matters formerly regarded outside its editorial scope. I t discussed industrial waste in all its forms; the necessity for better cost accounting, for greater safety in industry, for improved housing and sanitation, for more skilful management, for more research. It expressed its opinion on the regulation of business by the Federal Trade Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission. It took up industrial relations between employer and employee and devoted much space to the numerous phases of that many-sided subject. It spoke with authority and competence on such matters as reorganization of government departments because some of its editors had been drafted from government service and knew whereof they spoke. These things were invaluable because they reflected to the industry the opinions of mefi familiar with the industry itself and sympathetic with its needs. Speaking from a chemical point of view, it was not enough to discuss the technology of the industry; somebody had to present the economics as well. For example, coincident with the technical problem of fixing nitrogen was the question of government ownership and operation of nitrate plants and its effect on business. Of quite as much importance as how to make dyes was the question of establishing an industry in the face of foreign competition. The tariff was a paramount issue. We had the brains for dyemaking, but we needed the economic basis for an industry without which our technical brains would avail uq nothing. The alcohol industry likewise was, and is, much more concerned with fanatical legislation than with methods of manufacture. -411 of these things were consistently presented in the technical press for the benefit of industry and the education of government officials. In the matter of new developments there was the constant necessity of keeping the economic and industrial as well as the technical aspect clearly in mind. For this reason the technical
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press has brought to ilidustry vital statistics on consumption and production, on imports and exports. It has shown the close relation of plant location to industrial success. It has featured the importance of markets for new products and sources for raw materials. It has acquainted industry with pertinent activities of the Government, sometimes approving and sometimes condemning. In its relation to the Government the technical paper has been constructive and helpful. Witness its service since the war in aiding in the disposal of surplus property; in suggesting new uses for materials held in large quantities by government departments; in discussing the function of the Government in research; in advocating reform in the Patent Office; in supporting the Chemical Warfare Service and creating public sentiment that resulted in establishing this branch of the service on a scale somewhat commensurate with its importance. Probably the greatest stimulus to this new function of t h e technical press as an intermediary or connecting link between the Government and industry was the action of Mr. Hoover in inviting the editors of the husiness press of the country t o assist him in solving many of the problems with which he was confronted in the Department of Commerce. This was a t once the greatest recognition of the importance of the industrial press and a challenge to prove its usefulness by showing its intimate knowledge of industrial matters. What body of men in the country should be better able to reflect to the Government the needs of industry, and carry to industry the story of the Government's intention to aid and assist rather than hamper and restrict? So argued Mr. Hoover, and accordingly the memorable Hoover editorial conferences began in Washington last spring and have become a monthly event. They have resulted in laying before the Secretary of Commerce plans for elimination of waste, for standardization of sizes, types, and styles of industrial products, for. correlating the bureaus and agencies in his department and making them function more directly for the benefit of industry. They have resulted in the first effort ever made in this country to publish monthly vital statistics on consumption, production, and stocks of critical commodities in the basic industries. Finally they have been helpful in the reorganization of the Department of Commerce by finding men from the industries to head the new commodity divisions that have been created. And all of these things, mark you, have been done by technical industrial papers that formerly devoted themselves wholly to matters of science and technology, because they have seen clearly the need of this new service to their respective industries. Much of the best work has been done quietly through committees, questionnaires, and researches, but it has been none the less effective. Mr. Hoover has generously recognized the value of this service in a message to the editors, in which he said in part: The editors of the business press have shown a fine spirit of service. Your opportunity for leadership is unique and unchallenged. Upon you rests in large measure the responsibility of the control of industrial thought and opinion in the detail of the industrial, economic and technical problems which con€ront us. LIMITATIONS OF THE DAILYPRESS I have mentioned the inadequacy of the daily press in presenting to industry such matters as have just been discussed. They are essentially technical and hence not within the grasp or province of the daily newspaper. They will not be adequately presented for business and industry except through the medium of the industrial press. This is no reflection on the daily press hut merely a recognition of its limitations and the consequent need for the industrial press. We may consider a few examples. As an industrial disaster the explosion of the nitrate plant a t Oppau, Germany, was of such magnitude as to interest the entire world, And because of its marvelous mechanism for
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transmitting intelligence, the daily press gave us immediate reports of the occurrence. But the explosion had a far greater and deeper significance to chemical industry, and in all its attempts to give precise information that might be helpful the daily press failed utterly, as a result of its manifest limitations. Not only did it fail as a piirveyor of precise, accurate, and reliable technical news of the event, but it exemplified the blind as leaders of the blind in its editorial comment. So great a newspaper as the New York Times drew the conclusion that German chemists had been experimenting with new and deadly gases, in violation of the terms of the treaty, and had wrought their own destruction through their discoveries. It called upon the Badische Company to show clean hands in the matter, and it looked frankly with suspicion on the whole affair. Mystery surrounded the explosion and consequently mysterious conclusions were drawn as to its cause and significance. The press dispatches having said that the disaster was due to “the decmposition and subsequent explosion of a large quantity of ammonia and sulfate of saltpeter,” the Times suspected “experimenting of a secret nature,” and thought it “not inconceivable that the disaster a t Oppau may have been due to covert experimenting by those chemists.” All of which was of no help or consequence to the chemical industry, and it devolved upon the technical press through its enterprise and intelligence to inform the industry of the facts as nearly as they could be ascertained. Another instance of the newspapers’ inability to serve industry in technical matters is to he found in the attitude of the daily press toward the coal-tar industry. We may take as typical the editorial comment in the Rocky Mountain brews of Denver, September 30, 1921, on “The West and the Coal-Tar Industry.” The caption of the editorial immediately suggests a narrow sectional view of the proposed embargo on the importation of coal-tar products; and this is confirmed when we read later on that “if it can be shown that the fortified industry in time can reach out and make useful the coal deposits of Colorado, naturally Colorado would take more interest in the issue a t Washington.’’ No broad view of the coal-tar industry as a factor in national welfare. No conception of it in its relation to the other industries using dyes. No recognition of the fact that disarmament could proceed much more rapidly and taxes be reduced proportionately if the United States and all the nations each had a well-established coal-tar industry functioning in peace and guarding against war, Instead a small, sectional, wholly inadequate view of the matter. And yet the daily press regularly creates public opinion through pronouncements as incompetent as this. Examples might be multiplied. Chemical warfare was first condemned in the daily press, and first supported by the technical paper. Reports of such conventions as President Wilson’s first industrial conference and the recent unemployment conference were more reliable and pertinent in the industrial than in the daily press, for the reason that the latter was inclined to feature spectacular incidents and subordinate substantial accomplishments. All of these things are in the nature of a service to industry and the public welfare now performed by the technical press. It is not spectacular, but far-reaching. I t intiuences the intelligent leaders of industry to blaze the way to new reforms, initiate constructive policies, and establish sound principles and practices in industry. This service to industry by the technical press is a leaven that eventually leavens the whole of society. Through the leadership of the technical magazine in its own industry, it spreads information and serves as a clearing house for new ideas that eventually are translated into economies for the benefit of society as a whole. The service to industry is direct, and to society indirect.
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THEFUNCTIONS OF THE TECHNICAL PAPER From this general portrayal of the activities of the modern technical paper we may proceed to summarize its functions in industry and study the mechanism through which they are performed. 1-The modern technical paper is still a magazine of information pertinent to the technology of the industry it serves. This is an important function that cannot be subordinated without jeopardizing industrial progress. Economies resulting in cheaper production must still be worked out through scientific research and the application of the results in the factory. But this is not service enough. 2-The modern technical paper also treats of the economics of its industry, informing its readers on the relation of finance, the tariff, and other legislation t o business. 3-It is the newspaper of its industry, gathering weekly the items of personal and business intelligence on which its readers should be informed. Market movements and trade tendencies are reflected in reports gathered a t first hand Foreign as well as domestic news is obtained regularly by cable and wire. 4-The modern independent technical paper is a magazine of opinion-the mouthpiece of its industry. And herein lies one of the distinctive differences between it and the technical society magazine. The editorial independence of the industrial paper, its freedom from domination by any interest or allegiance to any group, makes it possible to adopt policies in the interest of the industry as a whole. Obviously this is denied to the society publication, which must serve primarily its own membership. Editorial opinion cannot be expressed with freedom on a wide variety of topics for the evident reason that the magazine must speak for the society. An independent industrial technical paper, on the other hand, labors under no such handicaps, being bound only to serve the best interests of its industry whether people agree with it or not. If subscribers do not like its policy they need not take the paper. &-The modern technical paper sets a high standard of business ethics and practice in its industry. Both in its business and editorial departments it subscribes to a code of ethics that has been adopted by associations of business publishers and industrial editors. These standards are high and must be subscribed and adhered to by members of these associations. The technical editor is pledged to consider first the interest of his subscriber. Truth and honesty must characterize his every activity. He is obligated to present the news of the industry free from personal bias and to determine the editorial contents of his paper independently of advertising considerations. The publisher also sets a high standard of business practice in the acceptance or rejection of advertising and in publicity regarding the character and extent of his circulation. Periodical investigations are made to see that members are living up t o these standards. This is one of the most powerful factors in making the technical paper a leader in its industry. With its own skirts clean it can consistently demand that its industry be free from unfair practices. Having adopted a high code of business ethics for itself it can, both by precept and example, urge similar action upon its industry. The adoption of a code of editorial ethics and business practice has been of the greatest benefit in establishing the independence of the technical paper. The exercise of all these functions results in a service, first to industry and then to society, that makes the modern technical paper an essential element of industry. It was so regarded by the Government during the war; and it must be self-evident that in times of peace, publication of knowledge and intelligence is indispensable to the development of industrial literature. What, then, is the mechanism for exercising these functions? The answer is found in the editorial staff. And just as the technical paper’s new relation to industry requires a broader service, so the modern editorial staff comprises a wider range of talent. In many respects it resembles a college faculty, being composed of men who are specialists in their respective branches of technology and industry. Papers covering the chemical and allied technical industries find it particularly necessary to have comparatively large staffs of qualified scientists, technologists. economists, and industrial experts. They are called upon to judge the competence of articles that form our technical literature. They are expected to reflect sound opinion on matters of public
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policy in relation to their industries, and t o take the lead in safe-guarding those industries from ill-advised legislation or private practice. They must display enterprise and initiative in discovering sources of news and information so that their industries may be kept abreast of development.;. And it goes without saying that in addition to their ability they must be men of integrity with a keen sense of editorial ethics. Nor can these things be accomplished without close personal contact with the industry itself. Travel by the editors is a s h e quu rtolz of successful industrial journalism. Conventions must he covered and reported in their essential features, for hundreds and thousands of men are unable to attend and must rely on the published record for their information. That this service is appreciated is attested by the correspondence following the publication of convenfion proceedings, asking for more detail or further information. Plants must be visited and processes described in order that textbook fundamentals may be amplified and brought up to date with practical details OF current practice. I n short, the modern technical paper cannot be edited from the desk, but it must show a familiarity with industry itself that is acquired only by personal contact. The consequence is that the industrial editor is enabled to see his industry as a whole and judge i t impartially. This was strikingly exemplified at the last National Conference of Business Paper Editors in Chicago, when a resume of conditions in ten basic industries was presented by a4 many editors of industrial magazine.;. These reviews were authoritative and could not have been pictured better, if as well, by industrial leaders themselves.
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Such, then, is the new relation of the technical paper to industry, as seen by the technical editor. Such is the duty of the industrial and technical press, as well as its opportunity for service, as conceived by the publishers. It results in a service that is growing more and more expensive, but which yields results to industry that more than justify the publisher’s outlay. No single industrial unit could afford to maintain for itself the service thus rendered to industry a t large. It is a service that is destined to be expanded rather than contracted, just as industry itself becomes more complex and needs broader vision and leadership. This evolution holds its lesson also for the individual. Just as the technical paper must supplement its technology with the economics and business of industry, so must the individual broaden his scope in order to find his greatest usefulness. Science will never develop its greatest usefulness to society as long as it is translated into technology only. It must find expression also in sociology, in economics, and in the management of in. dustry. This will call for broader training and more diverse talents among scientists, some of whom will continue t o enrich the records of research while others develop managerial ability or technical superiority or acquire skill in the practical application of economics and sociology. The ultimate aim-for the individual as well as for the industrial press-will be the perfection of our industrial processes, the elimination of waste, the stabilizing of labor and production, so that human happiness and standards of living may he increased. To such an end the modern technical paper is dedicated.
The Field for Chemists’ By Wilder D. Bancroft WAR
MEMORIAL PROFESSOR
OF CHEMISTRY, CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, NEW
Chemistry is the science which deals with all properties and all changes of matter that depend on the nature of the substances concerned. According to this definition,2 which is broader than the usual one, chemistry is the fundamental and dominant science, which may account for its being the most fascinating one. Chemistry, as thus defined, may he interpreted to include all of what is known as physics except the law of gravitation, the laws of motion, and a few other abstract formulations. Everything eke that gives life and interest to physics is chemistry by definition. Our friends, the physicists, look upon physics as the fundamental science because physics was a well-developed subject before there was any scientific chemistry worth mentioning. This method of reasoning is natural but not necessarily sound. As children we were told that great oaks from little acorns grow. This is true but not the whole truth. If we have only the acorn, it is, of course, the important thing; but, later, one sees that the acorn is merely an interesting subdivision or product of the oak. Engineering is largely applied chemistry. If it were not for the specific properties of iron, copper, concrete, brick, and all the other materials of engineering, there would be no such subject as engineering, which, speaking broadly, is the art of making the structural properties of matter available to man. In the biology of the present and the future, we are interested in the chemical changes in the living organisms due to heredity and environment. Growth is a chemical change and the internal and external structures are the result of a series of chemical changes. After the first stages of identification, enumeration, and classification have been passed, the interests of the biologists are largely chemical, and the closer the contact with chemistry January 1921. Received November 7, 1921. Scicncc, [21 87 (1908). 979.
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the better the results. This has been shown very clearly in the brilliant work of Loeb and his pupils; and Clowes has made it clear that Loeb’s results as t o the antagonistic action of sodium and calcium salts on protoplasm can be duplicated in a remarkable way with oil and water emulsions. In curative medicine we are dealing largely with the action of drugs. In preventive medicine we are dealing largely with inoculations, diet, exercise, a n d fresh air. I n the first case we are checking and eliminating a n abnormal chemical process, sickness, by the action of one set of chemicals on the system, I n the second case we are preventing the occurrence of a disturbing chemical proceis, sickness, by the action of another set of chemicals on the system. Owing to the difficulties involved and t o the number of variables concerned, our knowledge of the chemistry of medicine is not yet what it should be; but it is clear that real progress will be made just in so far as we study physiology and medicine as subdivisions of chemistry. Geology is the study of the chemistry of the earth, and agriculture is clearly a subdivision of chemistry. The fertility of the soil and the growing of crops are chemical problems in spite of the fact that they have been studied empirically for centuries. Professor Stieglitz of the University of Chicago has said that chemistry makes possible the scientific control of such widely divergent industries as agriculture and steel manufacturing. It governs the transformation of the salts, minerals, and humus of our fields and the components of the air into corn, wheat, cotton, and the innumerable other products of the soil; it governs no less the transformation of crude ores into steel and alloys which may be given practically any conceivable quality of hardness, elasticity, toughness, or strength. Exactly the same thing may be said of the hundreds of national activities that lie between the two extremes of agriculture and steel manufacture. Moreover, the domain of the science of the transfor-
